Learning the notes of the fretboard

trevjo7

Dear all, Would anyone be kind enough to share with any system/s that they used to help them learn the notes of the fretboard. I've got the low & high strings memorised but, due to memory difficulties am struggling to remember (quickly enough) the notes on the 5th, 4th, 3rd & 2nd strings. Thanking all those in advance that can offer my solutions. Trev

octatonic

Learning or recall?

Learning is a matter of expanding what you know using octaves and straight forward intervals like 4th's 5th's to navigate.

For fast recall then use 'The Metheny Game'- there are loads of variations of it but this is it in a nutshell.

You have a timer with you and choose a note at random.

You have to find that note in as many places as possible- don't rush but time it.

Work on beating your time.

Check that you've found ALL of the locations of that note too.

carlos

Hi Trev,

I went through that about 4 years ago and in the beginning it seemed overwhelming, but in the end it was easier than I expected.

I use a method based on intervals. You know already from tuning that the 5th fret (4th on the G string) is the note of the string below. So 5th fret on the bottom E string is the note on the open string below, i.e. A.

Then you go the other way around and the notes on the 7th frets (8th fret for B string) are the note on the open string above. So 7th fret on the E string is a B.

If you look at a chart with all the notes, you can easily make little cheat rules for yourself to help remember.

A really good warmup exercise is to go through all 12 notes (7 naturals, 5 flats) and play them in all possible positions on the fretboard going down the neck. So to play all E's you'd play:

• open 6th string
• open 1st string
• 2nd fret 4th string
• 5th fret 2nd string
• 7th fret 5th string
• 9th fret 3rd string
• 12th fret 6th string
• 12th fret 1st string
• ... etc

You can even use a diagram for this in the beginning, although eventually you want to do it from memory and using cheat system above as much as possible.

Megii

Just a thought, but you could also learn to read music at the same time - there must be some good books out there that you could use for this. Good advice above though.

Roland

You know they way that you give directions to someone using landmarks: turn left at the White Horse, and right at the church? Learn some landmarks on the neck, for example the notes at the 5th, 7th and 12th frets. Then you can start filling in the blanks.

Teetonetal

THE best way, is to combine it with learning to read notation. Do it in 5 positions over a period of 5 months. Learning by doing etc..

By the end you will know notes and notation .Double whammy, double win.

Phil_aka_Pip

Do it from first principles

1. each adjacent pair of natural notes is a whole tone (2 frets) apart with the exception of BC, EF
2. BC, EF are a semitone (1 fret) apart
3. make a diagram showing that, knowing that in standard tuning the strings are from low to high EADGBE
4. The frets you didn't mark are sharps/flats. EG B-string fret 2 is C# or Db depending on which key you are playing in. A sharp raises a note by a semitone, a flat lowers it by a semitone. Now you can fill the others in.
   

The above deals with most of it and you will get a pic like the one @carlos posted. The benefit of doing it yourself is that the info sticks better. Don't just look at his pic (or anyone else's) and try to memorise it. Make one of your own from the rules above.

carlos

Teetonetal;836743" said:

By the end you will know notes and notation .Double whammy, double win.

Yes but what's the notation for double whammy?

trevjo7

Thanks very much to all who took the time to reply to my question. This will really help me!

All the best

Trevor

Danny1969

Roland said:

You know they way that you give directions to someone using landmarks: turn left at the White Horse, and right at the church? Learn some landmarks on the neck, for example the notes at the 5th, 7th and 12th frets. Then you can start filling in the blanks.

Yeah that's exactly what I did and it's a very quick system to learn the neck

roberty

There's an android app called Learn Guitar Notes that is pretty good. Used to play it on the train to work, it helped a bit. Still don't really know the letters of the notes I'm playing as I play them but am aware of scale intervals which is more important I think (unless you're reading from sheet music)

GuyBoden

When you practice, try singing each note's name. This reinforces not just the note's name, but it's fretboard location and importantly it's sound.

Sambostar

I would forget the names and go purely by sound.  Work out natural minor and harmonic minor and major scales on one string all the way up, two strings then one position, any position starting on any string and then 6 strings as high as you can go.  Eventually your head and muscle memory remembers the relative fret changes between strings etc, depending on what you are playing.  Then you can introduce more exotic scales or pentatonics, anything really and do the same.  Use octaves as a reference if your ear isn't that great at first.

If you learn by technique or position or names of notes alone, you'll get lost or worse, limited.

Or, if you know all that stuff already but you are asking about communication to other theory savvy musicians who can't be arsed to use their ears, all you have to do is learn all the 12 notes on a high open E string from open E to high E and whatever note you are stuck on, use the high E as a octave reference.  There aren't that many notes really.

Or, if you want to learn an E2 from an E3 or an E4 or E5 and the actual octave for frequency purposes....I start falling down there as I don't know myself and just listen to the tone, but I think a low open E is an E2 as a reference.

I use the E2 as a reference for singing tones and can just about hit an A1 by singing the E2 along to playing the E2, then playing an E3 and following it down on a major scale with my voice and practicing an E6 falsetto on my 24 fret Mockingbird.  No not really, I can't do that.

It would be nice to hear a singer and say to myself, oh he's singing a C Sharp 3 or something though.  I can't do that, I can get the C but there is where it ends.

viz

Sambostar said:

I would forget the names and go purely by sound.  Work out natural minor and harmonic minor and major scales on one string all the way up, two strings then one position, any position starting on any string and then 6 strings as high as you can go.  Eventually your head and muscle memory remembers the relative fret changes between strings etc, depending on what you are playing.  Then you can introduce more exotic scales or pentatonics, anything really and do the same.  Use octaves as a reference if your ear isn't that great at first.

This is really really fundamental. Every child going through the classical music system has to learn how the scales sound before thinking about how to play them. Scales aren't meant to be just technique-builders. And the guitar is largely a key-agnostic instrument for many styles. Obviously not if you're using the open strings a lot, but for the noodlers.

Sambostar

Agreed.  The names are only important when you find yourself tapping your foot and then doing a whole body tap to Jolene in Toolstation and enjoy the next song too and it's Radio 2 and you realise you are old and stupid, but not even then.

Barney

iff you learn the notes on the E and A strings ...you can work the rest out fairly quick with octaves...for example
C=.... 3rd fret A string
5th fret G string
8th fret both top E and botton E string

so now this same interval shape using fingers 1 for 3rd fret
3rd for 5th fret
4th for 8th fret

do the same staring on the E string and you will know the names of them all ...

will maybe take a bit of thinking about when working things out from the D G B strings but you will be able to work it out so basically when you look at one note look at the octaves at the same time and remember whatever you play on bottom E is the same as on top E

strumjoughlamps

Roland said:

You know they way that you give directions to someone using landmarks: turn left at the White Horse, and right at the church? Learn some landmarks on the neck, for example the notes at the 5th, 7th and 12th frets. Then you can start filling in the blanks.

thats the way I did it except I used 5th 7th and 10th

dtr

The thing I wish I'd started with was octave patterns.  I got things back to front - learned all kinds of stuff but still struggled to get to grips with understanding the fretboard, then came across this, went back to basics and got this learned, and everything else made a whole lot more sense. 

1st/6th strings <-(2 frets)-> 4th string <-(3 frets)-> 2nd string <-(2 frets)-> 5th string <-(2 frets)-> 3rd string <-(3 frets)-> 1st/6th strings

Barney

dtr;844693" said:

The thing I wish I'd started with was octave patterns.  I got things back to front - learned all kinds of stuff but still struggled to get to grips with understanding the fretboard, then came across this, went back to basics and got this learned, and everything else made a whole lot more sense. 

1st/6th strings 4th string 2nd string 5th string 3rd string 1st/6th strings

this is what i was trying to get over on my post but this is explained a lot better...

MrBump

Barney said:

dtr;844693" said:

The thing I wish I'd started with was octave patterns.  I got things back to front - learned all kinds of stuff but still struggled to get to grips with understanding the fretboard, then came across this, went back to basics and got this learned, and everything else made a whole lot more sense. 

1st/6th strings 4th string 2nd string 5th string 3rd string 1st/6th strings

this is what i was trying to get over on my post but this is explained a lot better...

Interestingly, I don't really think like that on guitar, but I very much do on bass.  I find that mapping out the patterns of octaves is more rewarding on a bass, as I like to play a lot of chromatic patterns.

GuyBoden

Eventually with diligent practice you can visualise the notes on the whole fretboard in most common keys/scales. 

Over the years, I've found that the combination of ear training and visualisation of the fretboard worked well.

With enough practice you should be able to recognise intervals by sound and then visualise them on the fretboard. 3rd and 5ths are easiest to start with, but I find that it's good to practice all of the intervals, obviously some are much more difficult than others.